Crude steel output in India has increased by 10.7 percent to 25.76 million tonnes (MT) in the quarter January-March 2017, as against 23.26 MT in the year- ago period. According to the latest data by the World Steel Association, world crude steel production was 410.54 MT in the first quarter of 2017, up by 5.7% as compared to 388.31 MT in the same period in 2016.
The report further said that during the first quarter, China witnessed a mere 4.6 percent growth in crude steel production but the world's largest producer of the metal retained the top position with a production of 201.09 MT as against 192.31 MT in the three- month period a year ago. It also noted that Japan witnessed 1.5 percent rise in production at 26.22 MT during the quarter under review as against 25.83 MT a year ago. In March 2017, global crude steel production for the 67 countries was up by 4.6 percent to 144.95 MT as compared to the 138.55 in the same period a year ago.
The report noted that India’s crude steel production for March 2017 was 9 MT, an increase of 8.2 percent as against 8.31 MT in the same month a year ago. On a month-on-month basis, the country posted a growth of 11.11 percent in its crude steel production at 9 MT in March as against 8.1 MT in February 2017. It also pointed out that India's 8.2 percent growth rate for crude steel output in March was way ahead than China and Japan's 1.8 percent during the month.